The first in what I hope will be a trilogy of books I will be finishing about the end of the Baby Boomers/Boomers overstaying their welcome in about every aspect of American life. Entertainment, I can live with. Music? Depends. Politics, absolutely not. Work? This is tricky given how I fear the majority of them didn’t save up enough for the future.
Sociopaths was written shortly after the Orange Menace screwed up the country for four years and well before the COVID-19 pandemic, so most of Gibney’s contemporary data and forecasts are ruined. He does present strong evidence on the past, namely dispelling the myths still told again and again about the Vietnam War; only 30% of the forces in the conflict were draftees plus it was pretty easy for middle-class or higher Boomers to avoid. He also departs from other authors on the transitional definition year of when the Boom started. Traditionally it’s often 1946, as thousands of enlisted men are discharged from the US Armed Forces; numerous and quite awful Boomers were born that year, Slick Willie, Girth Vader and Dubious Bush. Gibney pulls it back as far as 1940. Why? He argues the Great Depression is mostly over thanks to WWII boosting the US economy (supplying the UK and France) so the birth rate was already starting to recover from the Thirties. I can see his point somewhat. I would only split hairs over how well the person recalls the time before 1946. For example, the rationing; the fear in people’s eyes whenever a government came to visit, namely to tell them they lost a loved one; etc. My argument coincides with Douglas Coupland regarding Generation X, it’s not always anchored to a year, it’s a state of mind or attitude. Meanwhile, let me clarify the title. Not all Boomers are Sociopaths. Every generation has a lump of these awful people (X have Musk & Bezos, Mills have Zuckerberg, Gen Z? I’m stumped but I’d go with the FTX guy); the problem derives from how large and unique the Baby Boom was. There has never been a population spike on par with it in recorded history. Emphasis on recorded. Ergo, the greater numbers created a larger pool of Sociopaths to get in there and take the US (and the world) down the wrong direction. I’d say Star Trek almost got it right via The Eugenics War since the past Earth was almost destroyed by superhuman tyrants who seized power in the Nineties.
More of the book covers the most depressing stuff and we’re reaping the outcome caused by the Boomers…the financial consequences. Even though St. Reagan wasn’t necessarily their POTUS (Girth Vader is) when their generation arrived in enough numbers to be a political force, they embraced his shitty policies to cut back on infrastructure. Their leadership then used all the “savings” to transfer to themselves while screwing over all who have followed, aka Gen X, Millenials and Gen Z. It’s pretty obvious when you look at the cost getting a university-level degree. I remember how unrealistic the discussions with my parents were. Back when they went in the Sixties, a modest-paying Summer job covered their tuition, including many private schools. By the time I left for Marquette, 20 years later, I was lucky if I earned enough to cover two classes and their overpriced textbooks! If I went to the underwhelming ISU as my mother begged, then I would’ve earned enough for three classes!
The future and near-future aren’t completely bleak as per Gibney but I have to agree, it’s not going to be easy. The cost outlays to repair forty-plus years of neglect and selfishness are going to be expensive; about in the tens of trillions of dollars. Given inflation making a surprise appearance after publication, I would triple his estimate now. If we could have meaningful reform on how bids/work are done, it wouldn’t have such ridiculous price tags. The major battle will be twofold, wrestling power away from them and re-allocating the money away from them. With the former, we know it’s hard. Pelosi may have “retired” to the backbench of Congress yet we know she’s still pulling the strings as her main skill was raising money, not governing. Plus (as of this posting), the Democrats are allegedly going to circle the wagons around Grampa’ Brunch out of fear from either another attempt by Girth Vader or worse, the professional Nazi, Meatball Ron. On the latter, death will take care of many as wealth in the US is often transferred down to the younger generations; why do you think rich buttholes lie about inheritance taxes? I really hope my fellow Gen Xers are in lockstep with the Mills and Z to fix this. Given how the most prominent Xers I see in the House are McCarthy, Cruz and Paul, I’m worried.
Lastly, don’t be intimidated by Gibney’s thorough research with numerous graphs and facts. He makes good points. I don’t agree with all of them. Trust me, he seems to be a friend of the South Park assholes. He tears into the Right but you can smell the venom dripping from his mouth whenever Sanders or the American Left propose a solution. I shouldn’t have been too surprised, Gibney’s regular beat covers Silicon Valley so he’s be drinking from that poisoned well of “optimism” for years. I’m still willing to work and find a compromise. We just need to hurry up before it’s too late. Xi getting a third term to pack China with more of his cronies is only a brief delay for the US.